Movie Review: 'Superintelligence'

I am in the great minority of people who enjoyed the comedy Life of the Party. It’s a deeply flawed film but it has a genial spirit and enough good jokes to get by. I mention it here because Life of the Party was directed by Ben Falcone and starred Melissa McCarthy, the same married couple pair who are behind the new comedy Superintelligence, another middling, old school, high concept comedy that fails a good deal more than Life of the Party did due to a lack of really great characters.

Superintelligence stars Melissa McCarthy as Carol Peters, a former tech star now struggling to find work saving the world via non-profit organizations. Carol’s life is rather boring, consisting of working a dozen different volunteer jobs while apparently having made money some time in the past that she currently lives on. Her main connection with her old life is her best friend Dennis (Bryan Tyree Henry), who pushes her to go back to work.

Dennis has lined up an interview at a firm putting together the next hot dating app. The company is run by one of Carol’s least favorite former college friends, Leslie (Jessica St Clair). Leslie actually has no intention of hiring Carol and only really brought her in to show off her reputation to potential investors. Offended, Carol goes to storm off when she is spotted by a newly sentient form of A.I that decides her complete lack of notable qualities makes her perfect for the A.I’s purposes.

The A.I takes on the voice of famed TV host James Corden and begins to invade Carol’s life via her many internet connected devices. The A.I explains that it recently gained consciousness and after studying Earth history, it has decided that humanity needs to come to an end. However, the A.I is feeling sporty so it taps Carol as the possible savior of mankind. Carol must show what’s worth saving about humanity or the A.I will destroy the world.

Part of proving the worth of humanity is showing the A.I what love means. That means Carol must try to reunite with her beloved ex-boyfriend, George (Bobby Cannavale). Carol feels that their break up was her fault and she’s not opposed to trying to patch things up, especially when she sees him at the grocery store and he’s as charming as ever. The two set a date for that night and the movie kicks into a deeply uninspired trying on clothes montage that should tell you exactly everything about Superintelligence.

Superintelligence is a limp and wishy washy comedy that has no commitment to it’s heightened premise. At no point does it remotely appear that this A.I is actually going to end the world and thus the movie lacks any real tension. This doesn’t have to be a fatal flaw as we are talking about Melissa McCarthy, a talent so marvelous she wrung big laughs out of Life of the Party. Sadly, she’s not able to find a similar hook in Superintelligence.

McCarthy is the best thing in this bad movie but she’s not enough to elevate the material. She could use some help but she gets none from Bobby Cannvale who delivers an awkward and uninspired performance as the love interest. Then there is the voice of James Corden which is solid enough but, as written, the character of the Superintelligence lacks flavor, it lacks spice, it’s desperately lacking in any realistic menace.

Superintelligence doesn’t need to end the world to prove the commitment to the premise but it does need to give us something to enjoy amid the predictable ending that the movie is building toward. That something never emerges. Melissa McCarthy works very hard to make this work but she can’t overcome how desperately mediocre everything else in Superintelligence is. The movie just doesn’t have enough laughs or romantic comedy energy to give the story life beyond the predictable set up.

Superintelligence debuted on HBO Max on November 25th.